More Projects, Pictures & Meat

Thanks so much for those of you who have taken a peek at the Cave and especially those who have been so kind to leave a comment.

I am a busy man...Most of my time is spent working and with the family. If I have any down time, I typically find something to do so guess what? I have another project...

Those who read my sweet wife's blog about the monkeys know that the #1 item on her current wish list is a new dining room table. I have noticed that according to women rule #218: (I have been asked to write N8's Laws to womendom, but quite frankly those rules are added and changed so fast that there isn't any possible way to keep up, ask my wife, I have numbered her rules into the hundreds of thousands) The rule states; "when one moves into a new establishment, all furnishings and wall coverings are considered null and void and are to be replaced immediately." I have known this rule was there, as a good husband I read the rule book daily and I am quizzed bi-weekly (essay, no multiple choice at my house) so I have been prepping for this new item. The boss wants a round table that can seat 8. That causes a bit of an issue in that to seat 8, the table needs to be 72 inches in diameter. Aparently, this is not an easily manufactured size as I can't seem to find any tables that size unless it is a custom item. Custom= more than I want to spend. So I am building her a 72" round table stained to match all the wood in the house with a lazy susan in the middle. This is a Christmas present that isn't a surprise. Kind of hard to build a table without someone getting a clue. Honey, dont go into the garage...or the basement. Anyway, I hope it turns out well.

Now, some pictures of past blogs.




This is a picture of the Thanksgiving meat. I put the ham on top of the turkey so those lovely juices drip onto the bird. Very Yummy.






















My tractor. This baby is ready and faced towards the door. Hopefully tonight and tomorrow it will snow enough to use it. I used the grass catcher to weigh down the back wheels by building a platform and putting 80lbs of salt on the platform.




A pork roast (boston butt to be specific)being prepped to go into the smoker to become my favorite of all smoked meats. The pulled pork sandwich...
Chunks of Mesquite going into the smoker

In the smoker, thermometer in, ready to close the door and cook.

This roast was smoked at 230 degrees until the internal temp hit 145 degrees. I then took it out and wrapped it in aluminum foil and put it back on without smoke until the internal temp was 205 degrees. Take it out of the heat, rip the aluminum on the top so the juices don't run out and let it sit for 20 minutes for the juices to redistribute in the meat then just pull it apart.


Sorry I didn't get a picture of the finished product before it was pulled, put on a toasted bun, layered with cole slaw, (thats how they do it in the south and I have to agree with them on this one) my own bbq sauce, and half eaten before I remembered to snap a picture. It didn't last long. Neither did the second one.

What is a Real Man?

Christina received an interesting comment on her blog from a man who also runs a man blog. I went to his blog and checked it out and was not surprised at the content I found; scantily clad cheerleaders and references to beer. This begs the question. What is a real man? What is a large boy? I thought I might lay down N8's Law of Mandom.

1. A real man never ever ever hits a lady.
2. A real man loves and takes care of his family.
3. A real man will protect those he loves with all his might.
4. A real man takes time to teach his children.
5. A real man knows that what goes around comes around.
6. A real man would never pass on a hug or kiss from his children.
7. A real man believes in God and relies on him for strength and guidance.
8. A real man is a leader for good things (family nights, scripture reading, saying prayers etc.)
9. A real man does all he can to make sure there is a roof over his families head and food in their bellies.
10. He shall love his wife and none other. This is the last and greatest law.

A real man is not a selfish being but knows he was put here to love, serve and protect. A large boy is a selfish being that knows nothing more than feeding his most basic desires. Ladies, if there is any bit of advice I might impart if you are looking for a spouse. Be sure you can tell the difference.

If you have any suggestions to add for the law, lets hear them.

N8

***Disclaimer- If any of the above laws don't apply to you but you are sure you are a man, then you probably are...This is just one man's list.***

BTW-no snow yet...or in the forecast. The tractor sits waiting.

Training Day

What is the only thing worse than having your favorite golf course closed because of snow? The enormously enjoyable task of snow removal on your driveway. I hate shoveling snow. The past couple of years in Utah have been odd. It isn't that we have had a huge amount of snow (that is fairly typical here) it is that we seemed to get snow every other day. I tend to have a little bit of OCD when it comes to snow because snow put under pressure becomes ice and ice sucks even more than snow. We have moved into a new house and with this new house comes about 3x the amount of exterior concrete. My boys are getting older and are becoming much more of an asset around the house so last year they were the main removers of snow, but this year, they will get a bit of a break because of our work today.

We have a lawn tractor with some good American power (Wisconsin based Kohler) under the hood. This tractor hasn't had much to do the last couple of years and has been somewhat neglected as it has been in storage. I thought, what if I put a snow blade on the front of that neglected tractor ? A Saturday project was born.

This baby needed some tlc. The front tires were flat, there was a oily grime under the hood. I am not sure when any of the filters or the fluids had been changed. Off the boys and I went to the parts store for supplies to tune this baby up. We came back and got to work. The oil was drained, fuel filter replaced, oil filter replaced, spark plug replaced and the oil refilled. My two boys, Zach & Matt were right there with me watching and doing the whole way as I tried to explain to them what each part did and how to do each task. We got to the carburetor and decided we might as well take a look at that. We ripped apart the carburetor, got some carb cleaner and went to work. We opened the carb and cleaned it all out and blew it dry with our air compressor. We put it back together and mounted it to the engine then replaced the air filter. I got out the power washer (more Wisconsin power by Briggs and Stratton) and got the grime off the engine and frame. We then put the hood and fenders back on the tractor, hooked up the electrical connections, inflated the tires, put the key in the ignition, and she fired right up. Honestly I thought for sure the battery would be dead. She is purring like a kitten. I let the boys take a celebratory lap around the cul-de-sac.

Like most men, when you can take a menial task and put a toy between the task and the man, the task is now fun. I now look forward to the snow and will have to fight the boys to push that snow around.

So...If women truly understood that more toys, er I mean tools equals more stuff gets done around the house with a better attitude. Perhaps they wouldn't object so much when we "need" something. Just a little thought.

BTW- More meat marinating in the fridge for a date with the smoker in the morning. Details to follow...

Meat

Meat is one of my hobbies...I like to smoke meat low and slow, bring over some friends or family and get sauce all over my fingers and face. For those of you who say meat isn't a hobby, you are wrong. This is my blog and I will decide. For those of you who would say that cooking is girly. Once again, wrong. If you ask a real woman (like my wife) I am probably the most sexy when I am feeding the family and smell like the smoke of some good wood. My first post is the process of getting some good carne to the table. I hope it ends well as I am trying some new things this time, but that is why meat is a hobby.

This Thanksgiving I will smoke a 14lb turkey and an 11 lb ham.

I found some wood yesterday for the smoker that is not that common, I got some plumb, red oak, apple and the most exciting sugar maple. The oak and maple are used for fine furniture so it is not that easy to find just for smoking, but now "I know a guy". I always feel cool when I can say "I know a guy"

This morning I am working on the brine for the turkey. So far I am simmering the vegetable stock which will make up half of the brine solution. This is what I have in the stock pot: (simmering is a means to an end for eating meat, therefore, it is manly)

3 onions, coarse chop
3 celery stocks chopped
3 carrots chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 med potato diced
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 dashes of ground thyme
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 tsp crushed red pepper (one of the most manly of spices)
1 tsp black pepper
2 bay leaves

I do have to admit that there is nothing manly about rosemary or thyme, they are just good. I have decided from this point forward rosemary will be changed to butch and thyme will be called spike.

It is simmering right now for another 30 minutes (1 hour total or until the veggies are soft) then I will strain the stock and cool it, it smells so good.

.....

The stock is done simmering, I strained the solids out of the stock and put it back on the heat. Then I added:

1.5 c kosher salt
1 c brown sugar
1 T. more of black pepper (you can never have too much pepper)
1 tsp ground ginger

I brought it back to boil and dissolved all the solids in the stock. It is now off the heat and I added one gallon of tap water into a 5 gallon bucket lined with a trash bag. I will wait until it cools, put it into the fridge until it is cold then put the turkey into the brine for the rest of the day and overnight until it goes in the smoke about 7am in the morning with its buddy the bone in ham. This should be really good...

...

Now on to the pig. Nothing in this world smokes better than pork. It is the night before and I just prepped the ham. I took it out of its wrappings, smothered it in yellow mustard (sounds weird i know but the mustard loses its flavor when it cooks and holds the rub on very well) then I put a generous coating of my special rub all over the ham. (If you want the recipe let me know, this is a recipe I don't want out for everyone to see, same with my BBQ sauce.) The prep work is almost done.

In the morning I will get up around 6 start the smoker and cut up some aromatics to put into the turkey cavity; things like onion, celery, an apple and a sprig or two of butch. The ham on the top rack of the smoker with the turkey beneath with the drippings of the ham falling onto the turkey. Nothing wrong with little pork fat on the bird.

To the fire!

...

It is now Thanksgiving morning, the bird and pig have been cooking for 3 hours, I figure they have another 1.5 hours until they are done. This is a new smoker, I have only used it one time before this and I noticed something today, I didn't have the dampener open enough to keep the wood smoldering (it is electric, so the wood is not the fuel) I am not sure it will have the amount of smoke to make the food as good as it could have been which is a big bummer. I am sure it will still be good, but it might be a little light on the smoke. Cherry didn't have this problem, but the maple must be a little harder to burn. The major problem was that the moisture venting from the smoker was fooling me as it is chilly this morning, I was mistaking the vapor for smoke. I won't make that mistake again.

The meat is done, right on time. The turkey reached 165 degrees in 4.5 hours about 18 min/lb at 255 degrees in the smoker. The Ham is at 140 in the middle so warm enough as it was already cured. They look great and smell outstanding.

...

Thanksgiving is over. I took the meat to my parents house as they had our whole family together for the big meal (very big, I have 7 brothers and sisters and a boat load of nieces and nephews for a grand total of 45 people) the turkey and ham were great as was everything else my family made. The sugar maple is outstanding for both of those meats, I highly recommend it for both turkey and pork.

Man cave rating:
450 out of 500 Horsepower